By taking dark color—and clutter—out of the equation, Bobby Houston and Eric Shamie cast their traditional Massachusetts cabin in a modern light. Wood-paneled walls have never looked so fresh!

Pure and Simple

Pure and Simple

Bobby Houston's been house proud for as long as he can remember. "Even when I was young and struggling, I insisted on living in fabulous places," says the filmmaker, who plunked down a Visa card to buy his first home, a dilapidated midcentury number in Southern California. "Remodeling has always been my secret sideline," he says.

After winning an Oscar in 2005—for Mighty Times: The Children's March, a documentary short about the Birmingham civil rights movement—Houston wrapped up his three-decade movie career and headed to Great Barrington, Massachusetts, to renovate homes full-time. He and his partner, Eric Shamie, launched Hauswork Design, a firm that transforms old residences into vacation rentals. Three years ago, the couple turned one of them—a 1960s rancher in the Berkshire mountains—into their own personal getaway.

In this photo: A pair of slipcovered CB2 sofas flank the den's stone fireplace, accessorized with a handblown glass vase and a vintage kindling bucket.

Bright idea: Set a tray atop a sturdy pouf, like Roost's wood model, for a cool coffee table.

Kitchen

Kitchen

The site the pair looked at was idyllic, with five forested acres rolling out alongside the Umpachene River. The house: not so much. "It was dark, dingy, and depressing," Shamie recalls, "with wall-to-wall carpeting and mice." Then something caught the pair's attention—a gargantuan stone fireplace that faced outside, onto a porch and carport. "We had this classic aha moment, when we knew just what to do," says Houston. The first step? Enclose that porch and carport to create a den, with an open kitchen on the other side of the fireplace.

In this photo: Houston scored the kitchen's salvaged Bulthaup cabinets from Green Demolitions, then wrapped them, and the pine island, in elm slabs. Felt cushions by Canvas top Sawkille stools. The range is Viking.